AEMO’s ESO is the first integrated assessment of gas and electricity supply adequacy for eastern and south-eastern Australia. Reflecting on both the government and market response following the March release of the Gas Statement of Opportunities, it looks specifically at the next two years and identifies what is required to maintain power system security in extreme summer conditions.
“The power system is changing, and this latest analysis indicates there will be challenges that will need to be managed proactively on days of extreme conditions to maintain secure, reliable and affordable energy to Australian consumers,” said AEMO CEO Audrey Zibelman.
The ESO outlines the Reliability Standard set by the Australian Energy Market Commission will be met within all National Electricity Market (NEM) regions over the next two years, however a risk of supply shortfalls exist should there be failures or limitations on generation or transmission; or low wind and photovoltaic (PV) generation conditions coincide with very high demand across South Australia and Victoria at the time of peak demand in the day.
“The Reliability Standard is a strong planning benchmark for the industry, however it does not assure consumers will have power when they need it most, such as during extreme peak demand periods,” said Ms Zibelman.
“AEMO is collaborating closely with governments and market participants to evolve capacity within the power system to meet peak demand during critical summer periods for the immediate two year horizon.”
The various initiatives undertaken throughout 2017 focus on ensuring generation fuel availability, completion of generation and transmission maintenance is prior to summer, the facilitation of new generation and storage, greater utilisation of demand side participation, and ensuring sufficient gas supply to meet both domestic gas consumption and electricity generation.